Title: Maneater
Author: Emily Antoinette
Publication Date: October 10, 2023
Genres: Urban Fantasy/Romance
Protagonist Gender: Male/Female
I spent way too much time searching Reddit and Facebook last week looking for potential vacation reads, but the community struck gold with this one. Maneater was my first read of vacation, and I absolutely devoured it, cover-to-cover, on the flight from Toronto to Halifax.
This was the most satisfying read I've enjoyed in quite some time. It's cozy and sweet and fun... but also kinky and clever. Emily Antoinette introduces us to a shy, nerdy male witch and a hot, dominant succubus stripper, and orchestrates the perfect meeting between them as he rescues her from a literal summoning by a group of sex-magic practitioners.
The connection between the two of them is immediate, but it plays out contrary to any expectations or assumptions the reader may have. Yes, there's an element of seduction to it, but it's more about courtship, mutual respect, and exploring boundaries. Shane is such a sweet cinnamon roll, maybe a tad too perfect in terms of his total lack of jealousy or angst, but I adored him and identified with him. Elle is older, more mature, and more experienced in terms of lust, but love is something as new to her as it is to him.
Their dynamic is sweet FLR, where she is very much the guiding force, but consent is key at every stage - so much so that it introduces a comic element in how long it takes for them to physically come together. Once they do, things get smoking hot, and I love that Elle's succubus form is as loved as her human one, complete with what has to be the best erotic use of a tail.
There is so much heart in this book, I really wish it had been longer, but that is my only complaint. It stands proudly alongside His Secret Illuminations as one of my all-time favorite FLR relationships.
Rating: ♀ ♀ ♀ ♀ ♀
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